Would Lifting the Social Security Cap Really Solve Half of the Funding Problem?

If you’ve heard rumors that Social Security is on the verge of going bankrupt, you’ll be happy to know they aren’t true.

Social Security is facing a revenue shortfall in the coming years as baby boomers retire in masses. But right now, the worst-case scenario on the table is broad benefit cuts.

The Social Security Trustees estimate that the program’s combined trust funds will be out of money by 2034. Once that happens, Social Security will only be able to pay about 81% of scheduled benefits.

Broad benefit cuts could have very dire consequences, though.

Millions of older Americans rely on Social Security for retirement income. And for many people who no longer work, those benefits are the only income they have. For this reason, it’s in lawmakers’ best interest to try to figure out a way to prevent Social Security cuts.

One option that’s been discussed is lifting or eliminating the Social Security wage cap, as this Reddit post alludes to. But the issue actually isn’t so simple.

What is Social Security’s wage cap?

Higher earners do not automatically pay Social Security tax on all of their income. Each year, a cap is set that determines how much wages are taxed to fund the program.

In 2025, the wage cap sits at $176,100. It will likely increase next year, and in future years, to account for inflation and wage growth.

Still, there are many people who earn well more than $176,100 per year. People with incomes above $176,100 do not have to pay Social Security taxes on wages beyond that threshold.

Put another way, somebody earning $176,100 this year and somebody earning $3.4 million are going to pay the same amount into Social Security. Lifting the wage cap could not only pump more money into Social Security, but help ensure that everyone pays a reasonable share.

The problem with lifting or eliminating the wage cap

Lifting or getting rid of the Social Security wage cap might seem like a great solution to the program’s pending financial shortfall. But it’s not as simple a solution as one might think.

For one thing, it might only address a portion of the program’s funding shortfall, resulting in benefit cuts regardless.

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget says that raising Social Security’s wage cap by subjecting earnings above $250,000 to taxes could produce an additional $1.6 trillion in savings for the program between 2026 and 2035, closing 70% of Social Security’s 75-year solvency gap.

That’s helpful. But it does not solve the problem completely.

Another issue is that raising Social Security’s wage cap without crediting additional taxes in the form of larger benefits changes the very nature of the program.

Right now, Social Security has a maximum monthly benefit it pays based on there being a wage cap. If more earnings are taxed without any additional upside for higher earners, it essentially compels higher earners to subsidize lower ones.

Social Security was never meant to be a welfare program. So while raising or eliminating the wage cap may be something lawmakers continue to talk about, they may be hesitant to move forward for fear that it will inadvertently turn Social Security into one.

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